MikeLowell

I'm looking forward to seeing how Chad Cregar does in the minors. He put up monster all-around numbers at Western Kentucky this season.

I like the Chad James and Dustin Dickerson picks.

I would love for us to draft a college player in the draft this year. I know it's unlikely because we almost always draft high school kids early but I would love to get Mike Leake or A.J. Pollock at 18. Pollock could be Uggla's replacement at 2B if we do decide to trade him in a year or two and looks like a typical #1/2 hitter. Good contact and plate discipline with little power and above average speed.

I'll laugh my ass off if the Nationals pass on Strasburg after all the talk of him going #1. I'm very interested in seeing where Mike Brownstein and Brian Cavazos-Galvez of UNM go. Brownstein is an absolute beast of a 2B. He hit .414 with 1 HR 49 RBI 23 SO 34 BB and 20 SB. He was named Mountain West POTY, Louisville Slugger Second Team, Ping! Baseball Second Team All-American but because he didn't play in the "mighty" ACC or SEC he isn't one of ESPN's top draft prospects. Cavazos-Galvez hit .392 with 15 HR 63 RBI 15 SO 14 BB and 17 SB.

AL - http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090527&content_id=4985248&vkey=allstar2009&fext=.jsp NL - http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090601&content_id=5084116&vkey=allstar2009&fext=.jsp

Did anyone see who BYU managed to sign yesterday? They got QB Jake Heaps(Scout #1 QB), MLB Zac Stout(Scout #5 MLB) and WR Ross Apo(Scout #53 WR). Amazing.

How many times have you guys voted so far? I just started today and have voted 10 times. Hanley is the starting SS right now but he's only less than 20,000 votes ahead of Rollins. Hopefully we can hold him off!

MINNEAPOLIS -- Getaway day started a little bit early for the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. Jason Varitek hit two home runs, then was one of four people ejected by young umpire Todd Tichenor during separate arguments in the seventh inning of Boston's 3-1 victory over Minnesota on Thursday. The 32-year-old Tichenor, up from the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, gave the boot to both catchers and both managers during a wild seventh inning that ended with Red Sox starter Josh Beckett giving a dismissive wave toward home plate in disgust. "Everybody handles things differently," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Tichenor. "It looked like he had his hands full today. Their guys were getting ejected, we're getting [ejected]. That's probably not your goal of the game." Joe Crede hit a home run in his return from a three-game absence because of a bruised hand, but Beckett (5-2) was too much for the Twins. He allowed one run on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings. Jacoby Ellsbury went 0 for 3 to snap a 22-game hitting streak. But Varitek hit solo homers off Anthony Swarzak (1-1) to lead off the fifth and seventh innings, the first first time the switch-hitter has hit two home runs in a game off right-handed pitchers since 2004, according to baseballreference.com. The razzing really started after his second homer. Dustin Pedroia lifted a sacrifice fly to right field and Jason Kubel fired a perfect strike to Mike Redmond at home plate as Jeff Bailey came barreling home. Redmond applied a sweep tag and replays showed that he appeared to hit Bailey on the arm just before Bailey's hand touched the plate. But Tichenor called Bailey safe, prompting an animated protest from Redmond. Tichenor tossed Redmond almost immediately after the catcher approached him. Tichenor was unavailable for comment after the game, but crew chief Jerry Layne said there was no physical contact between the catcher and the umpire. "Major League Baseball will review the report that Todd puts together," Layne said. "I don't know what was said. I just know it was very emotional at the moment. ... The umpire did his job." Twins manager Ron Gardenhire jumped out of the dugout to defend Redmond and was ejected himself. "I just thought he had a quick gun there," Gardenhire said. "He just pulled the trigger too quick, and I went out to defend and he threw me out too." With Joe Mauer as the designated hitter, Redmond's ejection forced the Twins to give up their DH for the rest of the game. It was the first career ejection for Redmond, who knew the stakes. "I couldn't believe he threw me out, honestly," Redmond said. "I don't go out there, ever, to get thrown out. Especially knowing that Joe's DHing. I can't get thrown out. I really can't get thrown out. I didn't swear at him. I didn't do anything. He just had a short fuse I guess." Things escalated in the bottom of the inning when Beckett threw a pitch that Varitek tried to frame for strike three on Brendan Harris. When he didn't get the call -- replays showed that it appeared to be outside -- Beckett seethed. Varitek stood up to intervene, turned around and got in Tichenor's face. Ejection No. 3. "I just said it was uncharacteristic of him," said Beckett, giving the clean version. "It was all caused by me." Then it was Francona's turn to defend his player. See ya. "He handled it the way I like to see a person handle it," Layne said of Tichenor. "He didn't let the game get out of control by not taking charge. He didn't throw anybody out that didn't deserve to be thrown out. He did his job. The managers did their jobs. Varitek stuck up for his pitcher. That's baseball." Swarzak gave up three runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in six innings of his second big league start. After pitching seven scoreless in a win over Milwaukee in his debut last week, Swarzak's scoreless innings streak reached 11 before Varitek got to him in the fifth inning on Thursday. Varitek, who declined comment, entered the game hitting .222 with three homers from the left side of the plate this season. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

No need to rush is right. We have Hanley locked up for awhile. Be patient with Stanton, let him develop and when he does get called up we will have the best 3/4 hitters in the league for a long time.

Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla is among the players piquing the interest of the San Francisco Giants, the Sun Sentinel reported. According to an industry source, the Giants have made preliminary inquiries about Uggla that have reached the general manager level. The Giants likely are investigating any number of options from Nationals' first baseman Nick Johnson to Indians infielder Mark DeRosa. But one thing that makes Uggla attractive is he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2011 season. Uggla already is earning $5.35 million. Team President David Samson has said payroll won't significantly increase until 2012, when the team is in the new building. Emilio Bonifacio or Chris Coghlan are candidates to replace Uggla if he is traded. To get Uggla, the Sun Sentinel said the Giants almost certainly would have to give up one of their young starters, either lefty Jonathan Sanchez or perhaps right-hander Matt Cain. During the Winter Meetings, a Sanchez for Jorge Cantu rumor made the rounds. ESPN Matt Cain :drool

Find a way to get Kevin Pucetas please! He's a beast in the making.

CNN) -- A 23-year-old woman suffocated her son and then buried his body beneath the sand of a playground, police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said Thursday. Police arrested Tiffany Toribio about 4 a.m., just hours after they said they wanted to speak to her about her missing 3-year-old son, Ty. Family members had contacted authorities, saying her son matched the description of a boy found Friday at an Albuquerque playground. Police Chief Ray Schultz said she confessed to killing the boy soon after being apprehended. "She placed her hand over her son's mouth and nose and suffocated him. She had second thoughts about what she did. She performed CPR on her son, brought him back to life and then decided to go forward with that original act she had started to commit," Schultz said. Watch Schultz describe the alleged killing ? "What makes this story especially sad is, when asked the reason why she took Ty's life, Tiffany said that she did not want him to grow up with no one caring about him, the same way that she had grown up where nobody had cared about her." An emotional Schultz added that Toribio has tried to kill herself since her arrest. She was being held in isolation at a detention facility and kept under observation, he said. He added, "As you can see, this case has been very emotional for everybody in the department." Toribio was charged with first-degree murder and an array of other charges, including abuse of a child under 12 that caused death. The discovery of the body at Alvarado Park on Friday shocked the community, which dubbed the boy "Baby Justice" and "Baby Angel" as they rallied around his case. Police released a composite image of the boy Tuesday, hoping to garner more leads in the case. They weren't able to release a photo of the boy because his body was so disfigured by the sand's heat. Schultz said that after killing her son, Toribio dug a hole under gym equipment at the playground, moved the body and buried him in the shallow grave. "Since that time, she's been walking the streets of the city of Albuquerque," he said. The boy was wearing Arizona brand clothing, size 3T: nylon black running pants with red stripes, a red shirt with a monster truck on it and black, gray and lime green Skechers sneakers. Toribio did not comment Thursday morning after her arrest as she was put in a police car. Schultz said there had been no reports of child abuse filed against Toribio. But he said family members indicated that she did not express the typical love of a mother for her child. "She did not show the normal relationship that you would see with a mother, son," he said. This week, police had gone to residences where she had lived previously, but she wasn't there, Schultz said. Police had gone there after family members expressed concern because "they did not like the way Ty was being treated," the police chief said. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/21/nm.buried.boy/index.html Incredibly sad. I've been following this story off and on the last couple of days. Today I got on my Myspace account and found out that one of my good friends was Ty's aunt. I couldn't believe it. I hope that you keep Ty as well as my friend and her family in your prayers.

Clippers get the #1 overall pick. Scary to think a team with Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Zach Randolph could add Blake Griffin to their roster. because they were so great last season? LOL...That team isn't really that scary. Griffin and Gordon could one day be a nice 1-2 combo, but next year, the Clippers are likely to be right back in the lottery. They have the talent to have a quick turnaround. A big reason they where so horrible this season was all the injuries they had. Baron Davis is a top 10 PG, Eric Gordon made a strong case for ROTY and Al Thornton has been very good since entering the league. Zach Randolph is a team cancer but you can't argue with the numbers he puts up every year. Chris Kaman is a quality big man and Marcus Camby is still one of the better rebounders/shot blockers in the league despite his age. Outside of the Lakers, the Pacific division is weak. You put Blake Griffin on that team and get rid of either Randolph of Camby because I can't see them having two bench players making over 24 million and I think they can sneak into the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed next season.

Clippers get the #1 overall pick. Scary to think a team with Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Zach Randolph could add Blake Griffin to their roster.

UNM product and future NBA MVP Danny Granger would love that.

Should be interesting to see who wins the Griffin sweepstakes. I'm not a Kings fan by any means but I'm hoping they get the #1 pick and draft him. I use to love watching the Kings playoff games. Kevin Martin needs all the help he can get.

If the MWC has another year like last, they need to get an automatic BCS bid. New Mexico has one of the toughest schedules in the country( @ Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, TCU Vs. Tulsa, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State). While this is a rebuilding year, first year head coach Mike Locksley has some talent to work with. Sophmore HB James Wright is the next great UNM HB and he gets to run behind a dominating OL led by C Erick Cook(2nd Team MWC) and OT Byron Bell(CFN Freshman All-American). We've got a couple of very good players on defense this year in LB Clint McPeek(103 Tackles 1 INT), S Frankie Soloman(73 Tackles 1 INT) and S Ian Clark(57 Tackles 4.0 Sacks) but for the most part we're very young. I think Miami is going to have one of the best defenses in the country this year. Outside of the secondary it kind of reminds me of the late 90's/early 2000's UM defenses. Eric Moncur coming back from injury to team up with Allen Bailey up front. Colin McCarthy coming back from injury to join Sean Spence and Arthur Brown(hopefully) at the starting LB positions. I think this is the year Graig Cooper becomes one of the ACC's top running backs. I'm not expecting much from Baby J though. If Jacory improves from last year, I think we will be ALMOST back. I'm hoping for 7-9 wins. 2011 National Champions.

Much needed rain.

maple syrup and butter

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/05/10/m...stra/#continued What a guy.

LAME.

The Lakers/Nuggets will roll the Cavs(if they even make it to the finals) just like the Spurs did a couple of years ago.

Glover Quin! Glad to see him get drafted. He did so much for the University of New Mexico during his career. He went too high though, probably should have went in the 6th or 7th round.

I'm not feeling the Tuner pick either. I would've rather had a Louis Murphy and Juaquin Iglesias.

I'm hoping the Dolphins get Ramses Barden with their 3rd round pick. I wouldn't care who we got in the rounds after that, Barden would make this draft a complete homerun for me.